The Hardest Things in Life Should Come Easy
by kaitsue
Summary: OK. So I'm revamping this story. No, NOT to get more reviews. I kinda stopped writing, & I want to start it up again. It's basically about Ruthie and Martin and the ups and downs of their socalled relationship. The Sandy Thing never happened,Please review
1. Prologue

Ruthie Camden woke suddenly, looked around, and muttered, "It was just a dream…"

Remembering her dream, she smiled. How she wished it were true, that she was with him, and he loved her back. He'd been acting strange lately, but that couldn't have anything to do with _her_, could it? No, it had to be because his father had come home, and he was happy, that's it, nothing more. Unfortunately.

Martin on the other hand, hadn't been able to sleep at all. He looked around his room. His eyes already well adjusted to the dark-he'd been lying in bed for close to 5 hours. He looked at his clock. It read 1:57.

_My God, Martin. Look at yourself! You are pathetic! Since when has a girl had this effect on you? Pull yourself together!_

Slowly, he sat up and pushed his feet out from under the blankets and onto the warm wood floor. Rather quickly, his gaze focused on a picture on his nightstand. It was of him and Ruthie at the airport when his dad came home. He loved that picture. It showed that he and Ruthie were capable of actually standing that close without feeling discomfort.

All of a sudden, something hit him like a ton of bricks. All of a sudden, it was so clear. His actions toward her since "The Hug," how he couldn't look her in the eye anymore, even though he wanted to. He didn't love the picture. He loved _her_.

His eyes opened wide and his mouth formed an O. He had to tell her. _Wait. I can't tell her. What if she doesn't feel the same way? This is absurd, Martin. This shouldn't be a difficult decision. Just tell her. It's not that hard. Just do it. Great, now I sound like a Nike commercial. That's it. I'm going to bed. _And with that last thought, he laid down and shut his eyes.


	2. Too Much Worrying

When Martin woke up the next morning (he had finally gotten to sleep at around 2:30), he immediately knew what he needed to do. He got out of bed, put pants and a shirt on, and grabbed an apple out of the fridge, and headed across the street to the Camden house. He didn't bother to ring the doorbell and walked right into the spacious kitchen where Annie Camden was busy making Monday morning breakfast (waffles and bacon). Martin quickly said hello, then asked, "Is Ruthie awake?

"I'm not sure, but you can go on up and check, and if she's not, wake her up for me, will you?" asked Annie.

"Thanks, and sure," Martin smiled.

He walked up the stairs, headed down the hallway, and up the stairs to the attic. He lightly tapped on the door and opened it a crack. As he peered through, he saw a small body tangled in the sheets and stirring slightly. Opening the door the rest of the way, he quietly whispered, "Ruth, you awake?"

"Mmmmm," Ruthie exhaustedly replied.

"Good morning. Your mom told me to wake you up, so get up! Get up! Get up!" Ruthie groaned and covered her face with her comforter.

"Martin, go away and let me sleep," whined Ruthie.

"No. Your mom said to wake you up, so that's what I'm going to do," Martin exclaimed indignantly.

"Fine, whatever, I'm up. Now go away."

Hurt, Martin sat down on her bed. "Ruth, what's wrong? Come on, talk to me."

"Nothing, ok? Nothing." Ruthie looked really depressed, and Martin began to worry.

"Ok, Ruthie. I know you better than that. Now tell me what's wrong," pressed Martin.

"I'm just not feeling well, ok? I need some sleep."

"Ok. You mind if I lay down too? I didn't get to bed until late last night. I could use a nap."

"You wanna lay down with me?" Ruthie asked skeptically.

"Um, well never mind then. See you later." And with that statement, he walked out the door.

_I wonder what **that** was,_ Ruthie thought. _He's acting really weird. Was it something I did? The laying down thing wouldn't have bugged him, would it? Oh no. Oh my God. He **cannot** know that I like him. _

_**But what if he does? **_

_He can't. I haven't told anyone, and I'm not **that** obvious, am I._

_**Yes, you are.**_

_Oh my gosh! He knows. I'm finished. Our friendship is finished. I am so stupid!_

_**Hang on. You don't know for sure that he knows. Calm down.**_

_You're right. I need to calm down. _Ruthie composed herself, got dressed, looked in the mirror, smiled, and walked downstairs, only to find Martin. Sitting at her kitchen table. _This is unbelievable, _she thought. What she said was, "Hi Martin, Hi mom!"

"Hey Ruthie, you ready to go to school," Martin asked.

"Yeah, just let me grab my purse and backpack."

"Ok, I'll wait for you in the car."


	3. The Big One

On the way to school, Martin continuously looked over at Ruthie, and it was really starting to bug her.

"Martin, are you ok?"

"Yeah, sure, why do you ask," Martin replied.

"Well, you keep looking over at me, and it's a little creepy," Ruthie answered.

Martin pulled into a spot in the school parking lot, turned the car off, and looked over at his best friend. "Sorry, I'm just nervous."

"Why," Ruthie asked.

"Because I'm about to do something, and I don't know what will happen," Martin said, taking a deep breath and looking straight at her.

"Well, do you want to talk about it? Is there any way I can help?'

Martin smiled and looked at her face, wondering how nice a person can be. "No. Just sit right there."

"Ok…want to tell me what's going on Martin," Ruthie pondered.

"Nothing. Just this." And with those two words, he leaned across the armrest, cupped her chin in his hand, and kissed her. It wasn't a long kiss, just a short, sweet, simple kiss that expressed his feelings in a way no words could. As they pulled away, Ruthie couldn't help but smile.

"What was that for?"

Martin laughed, and simply stared at her before saying, "For always being there for me. For thinking about me, even when I'm perfectly fine, and, just because I love you."

"You love me?" Ruthie asked.

Martin blushed, and smiled a little before taking her hand in his, and saying, "Yes, I do."

"I love you too Martin." It was a simple sentence, but it meant the world to Martin. He never comprehended before how much words can mean, but after hearing those 5 words, it finally became clear to him.

They kissed each other again, got out of the car, and walked up the front steps of the school, holding hands, not noticing that everyone was staring at them.


	4. The Plan

After school ended, Martin had baseball practice, so Ruthie decided to stay after and watch him, like she usually did. This time it felt different, though. She wasn't really following the ball, like she normally did, but instead, was following Martin's um…behind… in those baseball pants…

_Is this what happens when you love someone? Because if it is, then I am hopelessly, completely, undeniably in love with Martin Brewer, because I cannot focus on anything or anybody except him!_

She was abruptly pulled out of her thoughts, however, by a certain dark haired someone.

"Hey Ruth, you ready to go?" Martin asked.

"Yeah, sure. How 'bout you?"

"Yeah, just give me a couple minutes to change."

_You could stay like that and I wouldn't complain a bit, _Ruthie thought. What she said was, "Okay, I'll meet you outside the locker room, okay?"

Martin looked at her and said, "Okay. See you in five!"

As he was walking away, all he could think about was how Ruthie was finally his, kind of. It wasn't really official-yet.

_Five minutes later…_

Ruthie and Martin were walking out to his car, and the silence was pretty much killing both of them so, they decided to speak up.

"Ruthie?"

"Martin?"

Both laughed nervously and thought _How did we go from being able to talk so comfortably to walking in awkward silence and not being able to do anything about it?_

Martin smiled and said, "You go first."

"Ok, well, I was just wondering, are we going to tell my parents about, you know…us?"

He replied, "Well, yeah, I was planning on in, unless you don't want them to know."

Ruthie quickly responded, "No, I want to tell them, I just don't know what they'll think about it. They _are_ pretty overprotective."

"Hmmm. Well, we should still tell them, but maybe we should plan it first. That way, we'll be prepared for any questions they might ask."

"Yeah," Ruthie exclaimed, "that sounds like a great idea, because then they'll see that we are mature adults who can take care of themselves, right?"

"Right."


	5. The Announcement

**AN: Just to let everyone know, the Sandy thing never happened, obviously. Martin & Ruthie got together before that could happen. Hey-it's my story. I can dream! (Can't we all:) Ok also, Simon is still living at home. It's just easier. So. That means the whole Rose thing never happened either. Soo. Read & Review por favor! Thanks! SAgirlheart **

* * *

Martin and Ruthie sat in his bedroom, Ruthie lying down at the foot of the bed, Martin sitting below her on the floor. They were discussing "The Plan".

"Okay, so we'll just tell them that we KNOW a relationship takes work, but that we really care about each other, and are willing to work at it. That good enough?" asked Martin.

"It _might_ work," Ruthie replied doubtfully, "but I still think we need to come up with something more concrete. Oh! How about we tell them that we'll only go out alone once a week, and that the rest of the time we spend together will be with either my family, or with your dad?"

"That works. I don't mind, as long as I get to spend time with you," said Martin.

"Aww. Come here!"

The two leaned in and pecked each other on the lips. They'd grown comfortable with each other, in the small amount of time that they'd been a couple.

"Let's tell them tonight, at dinner. Then your dad could come, and we could tell them all together. Is that ok?" requested Ruthie.

* * *

_Later…at dinner_

Everybody is laughing and eating, just conversing with their family and the neighbors. Ruthie and Martin stand up, and everyone looks at them expectantly.

Martin clears his throat, "We have an announcement." Everyone starts to smile, and they wait patiently for the teenagers to speak.

Ruthie smiles and says, "Martin and I, well, we're together."

Everyone rolled their eyes, and muttered, "Finally!"

Martin looks at Ruthie. "Maybe it's not as exciting to them as it is to us?"

"I think it's more the fact that they saw it coming," replied Ruthie.

"How did they know before we did?!?" exclaimed Martin.

Annie spoke up, "Well, we saw how you looked at each other, and so we were all kind of hoping that it would happen, eventually. Now it has, so we ARE excited, just not surprised."

Meanwhile, Kevin, Sam, David, Eric, Simon, and Bill Brewer were all looking at the couple with looks of concern, and in the younger men's cases, brotherly protectiveness. At the same time, all six voices were heard, "Martin, we need to talk."


End file.
